hotbike

I usually stay off of State roads. But rt. 107 , on Long Island, New York was repaved last year. I took a test ride on 107 two weeks ago. Riding from Chicken Valley Rd. north , the shoulder was wide and pothole-free.
But there was a vegetation problem at Glen Head Road. The left turn lane is for Glen Head road, and 107 Cedar Swamp Road continues North, with a right curve at the intersection.

I had pruning shears in my basket, so I went to work clearing the roadside vegetation.
Everything up to 3/4 inch that my shears could handle.

Yesterday, I went back with lopping shears and cleared everything up to 2 inches. Just as I was finishing, the NY state DOT came by.
I shouted "I'm doing your job for you!"

The three dump trucks turned around, came back and removed the branches I had generated, and even raked the embankment.

So the DOT finally got embarrassed that I'm doing their job.

Ever stop to clear vegetation yourself?

Line of Sight is the keyword.

hotbike

Again!

Today I took a long ride, and another stretch of roadside was being cleared. After I had cleared some vine growth and other undesirable species, two weeks ago, there was a crew cleaning up after my hacking and lopping.
This time it was on Piping Rock Road, and the property in question belongs to to Brookville Country Club.
Actually, this was a three step process. I cut some vines, and last week, Verizon (telephone company) was pulling the vines off the poles. Today, the Brookville C.C. had a team of immigrant laborers with leaf blowers, removing the dead leaves from that very same roadside. The C.C. was using Golf Carts to haul the leaves away. I demonstrated my pruning shears on some more vines, and told a worker that I started this last week.

I have a theory:
Someone sees me doing the work, then that person makes a phone call and says "The job's not finished..."
Then the agency responsible has to finish the job.

But the work MUST be done! I am glad I got the ball rolling.

The vegetation turns curves into blind-curves. The motorist might not care if he can see where he's going, but I like to see where he is going, from my rear-view mirror.

I think too many cyclists are riding in the middle of the lane, and not paying attention to how bad the roadside vegetation growth is. Along the North end of Chicken Valley today, I had to cut some branches that were a full four feet into the road. I had to score, snap, and cut the branches, on account they were too big for the shears to cut in one stroke.

I am on a vendetta against roadside vegetation. Please join me and clear YOUR local roads of this shrubbery . The dictionary defines vendetta as "2 : an often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts or exchange of such acts " . Well, the vegetation started it. The vegetation grew into my path, and I retaliate with the shears.

I want to see a 400 foot line of sight, when I am at the extreme right edge of the shoulder.

Is anyone else in on this project?

East Hill

I've trimmed back many a blackberry thicket along a road. Doesn't seem to spur any official response, but it's for my safety, and the safety of others, and that's what's important.

East Hill

Bizurke

I've taken some pretty weird stuff with me on my bike but I don't think I've ever taken pruning shears. I must ask, did you plan to do this and bring them (the first time) or do you just carry them around for such a situation? My friends think I'm crazy cause I carry tubes in various sizes in case someone else gets a flat.

This does get me thinking though, there is a 2 mile stretch of a MUP here that has branches hanging down so low that someone is going to get seriously hurt. Our city was horribly flooded last year and the city workers aren't quite to the point of caring about trails so maybe I can get a group of cyclist together to go work on it. Thanks for the idea.

hotbike

I've been carrying the pruning shears in case of a situation. As my health improves, and I get onto some roads I haven't ridden on in years, I find more overgrowth and undergrowth, and I need to use them.

Then there's the Lopping Shears; these have 21 inch fiberglass handles, and can cut branches three times the diameter of what the Pruning Shears can cut. The thickets can get very thick (maybe that's why they call 'em 'thick-ets'). I bring out the lopping shears to finish the job. Otherwise, I'm afraid that leaving a stub of a branch, 3/4" diameter, at about where the fog line is, could seriously jab a cyclist in the eye, or some other body part.

The one thing I have to be careful about is thorns. I have to make sure the branches with thorns don't lie in the road, after I'm done, and give someone else a flat.

Here, I've dug up a link on this subject:

https://www.portlandonline.com/TRANSP...ex.cfm?c=47257

hotbike

National Roadside Vegetation Management Association:

https://www.nrvma.org/

Equipment:

https://www.dbiservices.com/dot/page6.asp

This is an informative pdf document:

https://wvltap.wvu.edu/images/14099CountryRoadsNL.pdf